#1$f 


Duke  University  Libraries 

Policy  of  emplo 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #787 

DTlOlflMaS- 


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POLICY   OF    EMPLOYING   NEGRO  TROOPS! 


SPEECH  OF  HON.  II.  C.  CHAMBERS,  OF  MISSISSIPPI, 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Co?igress  of  the  Confederate  States, 
Thursday,  November  10,  1S64,  on  the  special  order  for  that  day,  being  the 
resolution  offered  by  him  on  the  first  day  of  the  session,  in  the  following 
words : 

Resolved,  That  the  valour,  constancy  and  endurance  of  our  citizen-soldier?,  with  the  steady  co-operation  of  all 
classes  of  population  not  in  the  field,  will  continue  a  sufficient  guaranty  of  the  Rights  of  the  States  and  tbe  Inde- 
pendence of  the  Confederate  States. 

Mr.  CHAMBERS  said  :  ,  to  be  fixed  for  its  consideration,  an  avowal  was 

Mr.  Speaker  :  This  resolution  which  I  haJ  the  thus  explicitly  made  by  me  that,  in  my  opinion, 
honor  to  offer  the  lir*t  day  of  the  session,  a  little  ;  those  questions  should  be  discussed  now  and  here, 
in  advance  of  the  reception  of  the  President's  ;  From  over  caution,  from  an  excessive  desire 
message,  expresses  an  abiding  faith  in  the  con-  j  not  to  disturb  the  people  with  agitating  questions, 
tinued  ability  of  the  citizen-soldiers  of  the  coun-  )  pending  the  war,  Congress  has,  perhaps,  too  long 
try  to  defend  the  Rights  of  the  States  and  the  \  forborne  to  consider,  in  public  debate,  the  many 
Independence  of  the  Confederate  States,  without  i  profoundly  interesting  topics  which  have  arisen 
further  assistance  or  guaranty  than  may  be  de-  j  out  of  the  present  struggle.  The  Representatives 
rived  from  the  steady  co-operation  of  all  classes  of  the  people  have  been  silent  or  reserved  until 
of  pt-pulatiun  not  liable  to  military  duty; — with-  ■  their  constituencies  are  beginning  to  make  them- 
out  the  aid  of  negro  troops;  without  the  aid  of  a  Selves  heard  on  delicate  issues.  We,  who  sit  here, 
convention  to  which  we  have  been  conditionally  i  and  who  might  have  more  fully  advised  them  of 
invited  by  a  political  party  in  the  United  States, J  the  relations  of  all  important  questions  to  events 
on  their  own  terms — that  is  to  say,  on  a  basis  as  they  arose,  and  so  have  assisted  in  forming 
which  excludes  the  idea  of  the  permanent  exist- ;  and  preserving  a  healthy  tone  of  public  senti- 
ence of  this  Government;  and  without  the  al- !  ment,  have,  perhaps,  too  often  sealed  our  lips  or 
ternative  of  accepting  such  guaranties  as  that  closed  our  doors— until  the  people,  ceasing  to 
party,  if  it  accede  to  power,  may  offer  to  se-  ;  look  to  us  for  instruction  or  sympathy,  at  last 
cure  our  return  to  the  old  Union— guaranties  i  manifest  no  doubtful  indications  of  finding  con- 
which,  if  faithfully  adhered  to  by  that  party  dur-  j  elusions  without  our  assistance, 
ing  their  four  or  eight  years '  possession  of  power, ;  No  man  of  observation  can  be  unaware  of  the 
would  certainly  be  repudiated  by  the  party  next  \  present  anxious  and  unsettled  conditien  of  public 
succeeding— succeeding,  as  in  all  probability  they  |  sentiment.  The  popular  mind  is  groping  in  a 
would,  on  the  special  ground  of  their  hostility  to  i  labyrinth  of  perplexity,  seeking  solutions  for 
the  bargain  made  with  us.  Thus,  after  a  short  i  great  questions,  to  some  of  which  allusion  has 
interval  of  repose,  our  country  would  again  have  j  been  made.     How  to  increase  our  armies,  how  to 


to  choose  between  war  and  submission,  and, 
choosing  war,  enter  upon  a  new  conflict,  not  less 
bloody,  but,  perchance,  less  hopeful  than  the  con- 
test in  which  we  are  now  engaged. 

On  the  introduction  of  this  resolution,  candour 
compelled  me  to  advise  the  House  that  it  had 
been  drawn  in  such  terms  as  would  suggest  im- 
portant public  questions;  and  requesting  this  day 


bring  about  peace  and  independence,  and  in  some 
quarters,  let  it  be  confessed,  whether  it  might  not 
be  prudent  to  entertain  even  the  project  of  re- 
construction, these;  Sir,  are  some  of  the  enquiries 
that  are  arresting  the  attention  of  the  country. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  at  least  one  proposition 
of  a  startling  character  is  forced  upon  our  con- 
sideration.   I  allude  to  the  employment  of  negro 


'  These  remarks  were  made  before  the  result  of  the  latj  Presidential  election  In  the  north  was  ksown  at  Richmond, 
1 


troops.  Undoubtedly,  as  I  think,  if  this  question 
was  not  raised  with  evil  design,  it  must  have  orig- 
inated with  timid  or  despairing  patriots,  who, 
ignorant  of  the  relative  numbers  of  the  contend- 
ing armies  and  the  statistics  of  their  loss  and  in- 
crease, imagine  the  worst.  But,  however  or  by 
whomsoever  brought  forward,  it  presents  itself 


selves,  of  striking  for  liberation  from  the  tyranny 
to  which  they  have  been  subjected.  Nearly  the 
whole  of  Northern  and  Western  Mississippi,  of 
Northern  Alabama,  and  of  Western  Tennessee  are 
again  in  our  possession,  and  all  attempts  to  pene- 
trate from  the  coast  line  into  the  interior  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  have  been  baffled.     On 


T 

1  t 


now  with  imposing  sponsors,  and  must  be  met.  i  the  entire  Ocean  and  Gulf  coast  of  the  Confed- 
The  President  in  his  message  has  not  disdained  to  )  eracy,  the  whole  successes  of  the  enemy,  with  the 
notice  it,  and  distinguished  gentlemen  on  this  t  enormous  resources  at  his  command,  have  been 
floor  have  pronounced  it  worthy  of  grave  consider- )  limited  to  the  capture  of  the  outer  defences  of 
ation.  I  shall  barely  allude  to  distinguished  and  (  Mobile  bay.  In  Southwestern  Virginia,  succes- 
influential  personages  currently  reported  as  ad-5sive  armies,  which  threatened  the  capture  of 
vocates  of  the  measure,  fearful,  if  I  were  to  name  >  Lynchburg  and  Saltvllle,  have  been  routed  and 
them,  of  doing  injustice   to   their  views,  or  of  ',■  driven  out  of  the  country,  and  a  portion  of  East- 


smothering  myself  at  once  under  the  weight  of< 
their  authority. 

The  proposition  to  employ  negro  troops  pro-  < 
ceeds  upon  the  assumption  that  our  armies,  and  ! 


ern  Tennessee  reconquered  by  our  troops.  In 
Northern  Virginia,  extensive  districts  formerly 
occupied  by  the  enemy  are  now  free  from  their 
presence.     The  main  army,  after  a  series  of  de- 


the  usual  source  from  which  they  have  been  re- 1  feats,  in  which  its  losses  have  been  enormous,  is, 
cruited,  are  approximating  exhaustion.  It  is  re-  /with  the  aid  of  reinforcements,  but  with,  it  is 
markable,  however,  that  this  question  comes  J  hoped,  waning  prospect  of  further  progress  in  the 
upon  us  near  the  close  of  the  most  successful  cam-  £  design,  still  engaged  in  an  effort,  commenced 
paign  vouchsafed  to  Confederate  arms  since  the  '/  more  than  four  months  ago,  to  capture  the  town 
first  year  of  the  war — a  campaign  in  which  the  i  of  Petersburg.  The  army  of  Gen.  Sherman,  al- 
efforts  of  the  enemy  have  been  unprecedentedly  \  though  succeeding  at  the  end  of  summer  in  ob- 
great,  and  his  losses  compared  to  ours  unprece-  staining  possession  of  Atlanta,  has  been  unable  to 
dentedly  large;  in  which,  if  his  reinforcements  \  secure  any  ultimate  advantage  from  his  success — 
have  been  greater  than  ours,  his  original  ranks  ?  compelled  to  withdraw  on  the  line  of  his  advance, 
have  steadily  diminished  in  a  corresponding  ratio: ',  without  obtaining  control  of  a  single  mile  of  ter- 
and  the  belligerents  now  find  themselves  ap-?ritory  beyond  the  narrow  track  of  his  march." 
proaching  the  fourth  winter  of  hostilities  with  I  Such  is  the  account  of  last  year's  operations, 
armies  of  nearly  the  same  numerical  relation  as  t  Strange,  indeed,  is  it  that  under  such  encourag- 
existed  between  them  at  the  beginning.  It  may  ff  ing  results  as  these,  a  proposition  should  be  made 
be  safely  asserted  that,  embracing  the  Trans- Mo  employ  negro  troops;  nor  is  it  easy  to  avoid  the 
Mississippi  Department  in  the  account,  the  con- f,  suspicion  that  it  must  have  originated  in  some 
tending  forces  are  as  nearly  equal  now  as  they  t  oblique  and  unavowed  design, 
were  a  year  ago.  i     At  the  same  time  it  must  be  admitted  that  our 

And  with  reference  to  the  territory  lost  and  re-v  armies  are  not  as  large  as  they  should  be — not 
covered,  what  has  been   the  result  of  the  cam- ',  nearly  so  large  as  they  might  be  with  greater 


paign  ?  Let  the  President  tell  the  story.  He 
says  :  "At  the  beginning  of  the  year  the  State  of 
Texas  was  partially  in  possession  of  the  enemy, 


;  efficiency  in  the  execution  of  the  laws  designed 

'<  to  increase  them. 

;     In  1862  there  were  700,000  men  between  the 


and  large  portions  of  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  lay  )  ages  of  18  and  45,  in  the  cotton  States,  and  over 
apparently  defenceless.     Of  the  Federals  who 


half  a  million  more  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina 
a 


inyaded  Texas,  none  are  known  to  remain  except  5  and  Tennessee.      With   a   large   allowance  for 
as  prisoners  of  war.     In  Northwestern  Louisiana,  j  physical  disability,  exemptions  and  details,  here 
a  large  and  well  appointed  army,  aided  by  a  pow- 
erful fleet,  was  repeatedly  defeated,  and  deemed 


were  about  one  million  of  men  liable  to   field 
service  under  the  acts  of  conscription,  exclusive 


itself  fortunate  in  finally  escaping  with  a  loss  of  \  of  all  recruits  from  Kentucky  and  Missouri.  Al- 
one-third of  its  numbers,  a  large  part  of  its  mili-  '<  lowing  one-fifth  of  the  whole  to  be  now  within 
tary  trains,  and  many  transports  and  gunboats,  j  the  enemy's  lines,  there  would  still  remain  800,- 
The  enemy's  occupation  of  the  State  is  reduced  \  000  men;  and  if  one  half  of  this  number  have 
to  the  narrow  district  commanded  by  the  guns  of  been  lost  or  disabled  in  service,  (which  is  impossi- 
his  fleet.     Arkansas  has  been  recovered,  with  the  \ble),  there  would  still  remain  400,000,  a  force 


exception  of  a  few  fortified  posts,  while  our 
forces  have  penetrated  into  central  Missouri,  af- 
fording to  our  oppressed  brethren  in  that  State  an 
opportunity,  of  which  many  have  availed  them* 


more  than  sufficient  to  end  this  war  soon  and  suc- 
cessfully, to  say  nothing  of  the  Confederate  Re- 
serves and  the  Militia  in  the  several  States. 
Sir,  it  it  true  th?  men  are  not  all  present  with 


T 


the  army,  but  they  exist  and  will  continue  with  and  with  the  former,  those  who  do  not  labor  can 
more  or  less  rapidity  to  supply  recruits.  The  hardly  be  called  consumers.  In  the  beginning 
President  has  told  us  (as  I  understand)  in  a  recent  the  whole  South  had  4,000,000  slaves,  divisible 
speech,  that  one-third  of  the  number  liable  to  into  800,000  families  of  five,  and  including  3,400,- 
service  in  the  field  were  absent,  yet  our  armies  000  labourers.  The  North,  on  the  other  hand, 
have  been  able  and  are  now  able  to  cope  with  the.  '  had  about  20,000,000  whites,  of  which  12,000,000 
enemy  and  even  win  territory  from  his  grasp,  j  would  afford  only  2,400,000  labourers,  and  the 
Does  this  look  like  exhaustion  ?  If  it  be,  then  \  remaining  8,000,000  of  her  population  were  pre- 
the  same  exhaustion  afflicts  the  foe;  for  after  all  j  ciscly  the  number  of  the  white  population  of  the 
his  immense  drafts  or  attempts  at  drafting,  with  ;  South. 

huge  bounties  offered  to  recruits-with  continual  j  T  shaU  nQt  hftre  gtop  tQ  comment  on  the  ?reatcr 
relays  of  foreign  paupers  to  fill  up  his  waning  efficicncy  of  sIave  ,abour  over  free  -Q  producing 
lines-still  he  finds  his  numerical  relation  to  us  subsislence  for  armies.  nor  upon  our  more  fertile 
little  changed:  still  he  finds  himself  unable  to  ad- >  soi,  and  more  propitious  skics.  Enough  ha3  bren 
vance-  id   to   show    that   the    disparity   between   the 

The  history  of  nations  often  exhibits  the  fact,  sections  was  originally  much  less  than  was  gener- 
that  there  is  a  point  of  drain  to  the  field  beyond  ally  supposed,  and  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that 
which  no  population  can  be  forced  to  go  and  su«-  :  the  South,  as  a  slave  country,  has  the  greater 
tain  itself  in  protracted  war.  There  is  besides  a  capacity  to  endure  long  war.  True,  a  slave 
conservative  instinct  in  every  people,  which  country,  though  not  easily  exhausted,  is  easily  in  - 
teaches  them  when  this  point  has  hecn  reached,  vaded.  The  slave  produces  abundantly  the  sup- 
and  neither  blandishment  nor  coercion  wrll  easily  '  plies  for  war;  but  cannot  be  employed  in  local 
prevail  with  them  to  go  beyond  it.  It  is  said  that  /defence.  He  cannot  be  made  a  minute  man;  and 
not  more  than  four  per  cent,  of  the  whole  popu-  ■',  those  who  would  employ  slave  troops  in  our  large 
lation,  or  the  male  adult  head  of  every  fifth  ;  armies  have  not  yet  had  the  hardihood  to  propose 
family,  can  be  spared  to  war.  When  he  is  taken  j  a  slave  militia.  Yet,  if  they  ran  be  relied  on  to 
from  the  number  of  producers  and  converted  into  ,  fight  for  the  country  on  the  frontier,  assuredly 
a  soldier,  his  family  of  four  consumers  remain  to  >  they  could  be  relied  on  to  fight  for  their  immedi- 
be  supported  by  the  producers  of  the  four  nearest ;  ate  homes.  This  bare  suggestion,  however,  gives 
families — a  burden  of  one  additional  consumer  to  an  air  of  absurdity  to  the  whole  scheme.  ' 
each' male  adult  at  home,  which,  added  to  the.  Fortunately,  we  arc  not  yet  reduced  to  ex- 
othcr  exactions  of  war,  has  been  ascertained  to  ',  tremity.  Although  our  territory  is  more  limited, 
be  as  heavy  as  any  nation  can  long  sustain.  ,;  supplies  of  food  are  more  abundant  than  ever; 

Now,  sir,  the  North,  with  its  population  of  our  so]diers  suffcr  from  disease  much  less  than 
some  twenty  millions  at  the  beginning  of  the  ;  formeriy;  acting  chiefly  on  the  defensive  and  be- 
war.  divided  into  four  million  families,  might  j  hind  work8|  lhey  must  suffer  mUch  smaller  losses 
have  spared  nearly  a  million  to  the  field;  and  it;  in  ,)aU,e  than  the  cnemjj  and  being  ,n  mit  0W11 
is  believed  that  in  the  course  of  this  unusually  }  country  and  climate>  must  suffer  also  much  ]ess 
bloody  and  protracted  struggle  nearly  that  num-  ,  from  disease.  and  this  day>  j  repcat>  lhe  goulh  ^ 
ber  of  the  enemy  has  been  destroyed  or  disabled;  displaying  more  of  original  vigor  than  the  North, 
even  Foreign  immigration  does  not  enable  him  !  lf  exhaustion  approaches,  its  advance  is  too  slow 
greatly  to  increase  his  aggregate  force  in  the  to  be  aiarming:  the  period  of  its  arrival  cannot 
field,  and  all  appearances,  and  all  information  be  caIculatcd.  while  in  the  North>  potentous  signs 
received,  indicate  that  the  conservative  instincts  ;  indicate  no  distant  catastrophe.  At  least,  we 
of  the  Northern  people,  admonishing  them  of  ap-are  stm  strong  enough  to  afford  lo  watch  and 
proximate  exhaustion  of  resources,  rebel  against  wait>  without  hazarding  experiments  on  our 
the  continuance  of  the  war.  But  sooner  or  later,  military>  sociai  and  political  systems,  that  may- 
it  is  argued,  the  South  must  be  exhausted.  I  precipitate  present  disaster  and  entail  future  woe. 
might  reply,  sufficient  for  the  day  is  the  evil  StiU  our  army  must  bc  increased.  It  has  al- 
thereof.  I  choose,  however,  not  so  to  evade  the  ready  been  said  that  fully  one-third  of  those  bow 
P010*--  i  liable  to  military  service  are  absent  from  the  field. 

The  limit  at  which  the  war  drain  on  population  This  source  of  supply  must  be  made  to  yield  its 
must  be  stopped,  has  been  referred  to.  That  rule  proper  fruits.  Though  there  have  been  many,  too 
applies  only  to  free  population — not  to  slaves,  many,  desertions,  and  this  evil  will  continue  more 
The  number  of  laborers  or  producers  among  or  less  to  exist,  yet  it  has  not  been  so  great  in  our 
slaves  is  three  times  as  great  as  among  free  army  as  in  that  of  the  enemy.  The  majority  of 
people.  With  the  former  there  are  three  in  each  the  number  improperly  out  of  service  have  never 
family  who  labour  a-field,  with  the  latter  only  one;  ( been  brought  into  it.    Congress  must  assist  in  ap-   ; 


plying  a  remedy.  New  sanctions  must  be  added  j  In  what  form  of  organization  is  it  proposed  to  use 
to  old  laws,  and  new  laws  must  be  passed,  for  fill-  j  them  ?  It  can  hardly  be  designed  to  intermingle 
ing  up  the  ranks.  Above  all,  let  appeals  be  made  them  in  the  same  companies  with  our  citizen  sol- 
to  the  patriotism  of  the  country — let  a  corrective  j  diers;  no  one  has  yet  had  the  audacity  to  propose 
be  attempted  from  these  halls,  of  that  spirit  of  j  that.  Would  it  be  safe  to  confide  to  negro  troops 
contempt  for  law — that  lax  obedience  to  author-  j  so  much  of  the  line  of  battle  as  would  be  occu- 
ity — that  slow  and  reluctant  compliance  with  the  <  pied  by  a  regiment  or  a  brigade— much  less  a  di- 
behests  of  the  legislative  power,  where  those  be- <  vision  or  a  corps?  And  an  entire  line  so  com- 
hests  do  not  comport  with  individual  ease  or  opin-  posed  might  by  sudden  flight  or  wholesale  sur- 
ion—which,runningdown  the  whole  official  gamut,  j  render  involve  the  whole  army  in  confusion 
civil  and  military,  from  capital  to  camp,  (with  nu- j  and  disaster.  To  surrender  to  them  the  duty 
merous  exceptions,  ofcourse)  accumulating  abuses  |  of  defending  forts  or  outposts  would  be  to 
as  it  descends,  paralyzes  the  fighting  power  of  the  j  piace  the  keys  of  the  situation  in  their  hands, 
country,  and  renders  the  Jaw  of  the  land  too  often  ■■  Then,  but  one  alternative  remains;  it  is  to  form 
a  dead  letter.  Let  every  man,  here  or  else-  /  them  into  companies  and  place  these  in  alterna- 
where,  feel  under  obligation  to  point  the  finger  of ;  tion  with  white  companies  in  the  same  regiments, 
scorn  at  every  one  who  shirks  or  skulks  from  his  j  The  electric  current  of  mutual  confidence  and 
duty,  at  home  or  in  the  field;  and  especially  at  \  devotion— the  triumphant  glance,  the  answering 
that  officer,  whoever  he  may  be,  who  extends  j  smile,  the  sympathetic  cheer— no  longer  passes 
an  unnecessary  furlough  to  relative  or  favor-  >t  from  company  to  company.  The  silence  of  distrust 
ite,  or  permits  him  to  lie  around  his  headquar-  \  n0w  broods  along  the  line,  which  hesitates,  halts, 
ters,  or  otherwise  by  his  indulgence  avoid  the )  wavers,  breaks,  and  the  black  troops  fly— perhaps 
fight.  As  said  in  the  beginning,  much  good  may  /  to  the  embraces  of  the  enemy.  Even'  victory  it- 
be  done  by  free  discussion  here.  Let  us  throw  off;'  ge'lf  would  be  robbed  of  its  "glory  if  shared  with 
the  shackles  of  an  over-caution  as  to  criticism  of  Jslaves.  God  grant  that  our  noble  army  of  mar_ 
meu  and  measures;  and  freely  confessing  abuses,  j  tyrs  may  never  haye  to  drink  of  this  cup  , 
charge  home  the  responibility  for  their  existence ,  j 

and  invite  both  Government  and  people  to  hear.  \  That  our  ara,y  WW  be  recruited  so  as  to  main- 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  our  people  cannot ', tain  at  least  its  present  strength— and  probably 
bear  the  whole  truth  on  every  and  any  question,  \  wilh  aJarge  increase  of  its  present  numbers— can- 
sodial,  political,  military,  and  even  diplomatic:  >not  be  doubted-  But  even  without  another  ro- 
und from  our  enemies  there  is  no  longer  anything  \  cruit>  at  the  Present  slow  rate  of  decrease  of  its 
to  be  concealed.  The  strength  of  our  armies,  J  veteran  force,  it  would  long  maintain  a  defence 
the  number  at  home  still  liable  to  service,  the  ex-  \ of  the  country;  long  enough  to  wear  out  the  re- 
tent  of  all  our  resources,  the  depth  of  every  har-  'i  sources  of  the  enemy.  Do  gentlemen  see  no  signs 
bor,  the  navigable  length  of  every  river,  the  ^of  exhaustion  at  the  North?  Do  they  derive  no 
height  of  every  mountain,  the  width  of  every  J  hoPe  from  the  consideration  of  financial  disasters 
plain,  and  almost  the  producing  capacity  of  every  >  impending  there?  How  long  they  can  carry  on 
acre,  are  already  known  to  them;  and  it  is  to  be  \ an  aggressive  war  under  a  debt  whose  annual  in- 
hoped  that  none  of  these  things  are  better  known  ^terest  already  equals  that  of  the  debt  of  Great 
to  them  than  to  us.  The  particular  measures  pf  \  Britain»  accumulated  during  centuries  marked  by 
legislation  which  should  be  adopted  to  assist  in  ^expensive  wars— a  debt  still  accumulating  at  the 
the  great  work  of  bringing  men  to  the  field  and  \  rate  of  over  two  millions  a  day-cannot  be  pre- 
keeping  them  there,  it  would  be  out  of  place  now  >  cisely  calculated ;  but  the  end  is  certain  and  near, 
to  discuss.  Already  other  members  have  sug-*The  intelliSent  Northern  mind  is  already  grasp- 
gested,  by  bill  or  resolution,  more  than  one  salu->  ins  lhe  grcat  fact  that  the  entire  ProPerty  of  the 
tarv  exactment  '  South,  less  the  slaves,  if  confiscated  and  sold  to- 

morrow, would  not  pay  their  present  debt.  The 
But,  sir,  if  all  these  calculations  fail — if,  as  our  \  property  of  Hi<  thirteen  Confederate  States,  ex- 
despairing  friends  declare,  we  have  approximated  ( elusive  of  slaves,  was,  in  18G0,  estimated  at  about 
to  final  exhaustion,  and  must  find  some  extraor- /  4,000  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  Northern  debt, 
dinary  source  of  re-inforcements — will  negro /already  audited,  is  about  2,500 millions.  Allow* 
troops  answer  the  purpose — will  the  African  save  j  ing  for  the  depreciation  of  values  in  the  South, 
us?  There  is  no  moral,  no  pecuniary  objection  \  which  would  ensue  on  abolition  and  subjugation, 
to'employing  them,  if  they  can  be  made  to  serve  'it  is  obvious  that  our  whole  property  would  not 
the  occasion.  The  question  is  not  whether  they  discharge  it.  How  long  they  may  be  able  to  put 
have  not  been  known  to  fight,  but  whether  they  <  off  the  day  of  bankruptcy,  when  every  hour  but 
can  be  relied  on  to  fight  successfully  for  us  now  ^adds  to  the  amount  of  Government  obligations, 
in  the  present  death  grapple  with  our  enemies.  I  whieh,  with  every  hour,  grow  more  worthless.and 


which  soon  must  be  valueless  to  hire  even  foreign 
mercenaries,  cannot  with  certainty  be  foretold; 
but  at  least  this  can  be  said,  and  in  the  name  of 
our  brave  army  of  citizen-soldiers  I  say  it,  that 
under  such  circumstances  we  can  defend  as  long 
as  they,  can  strike. 

This  argument  proceeds  upon  the  presumption 
that  the  negro,  whether  slave  or  free,  cannot  be 
made  a  good  soldier.  The  law  of  his  race  forbids 
it.  Of  all  others  the  best  adapted  to  slavery,  he 
is  therefore  of  all  others,  the  least  adapted  for 
military  service.  Of  great  simplicity  of  disposi- 
tion, tractable,  prone  to  obedience,  and  highly  im- 
itative, he  is  easily  drilled;  but  timid,  averse  to 
effort,  without  ambition,  he  has  none  of  the  higher 
qualities  of  the  soldier.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  a 
being  less  fit  for  plucking  honor  from  the  cannon's  \ 
mouth.  At  the  beginning  of  this  war,  he  fled  to 
the  enemy  to  avoid  work;  his  local  attachment 
was  not  sufficient  to  retain  him;  now  he  remains 
to  avoid  military  service  in  the  Yankee  army — his 
aversion  to  work  being  greater  than  his  aver- 
sion to  slavery,  and  only  less  than  his  aversion 
to  war.  Such  is  his  character  as  it  appears  in 
history.  It  is  not  denied  that,  under  the  influence 
of  revenge,  of  a  desire  for  plunder,  or  other  mad- 
dening or  special  excitement,  he  has  been  known 
to  surrender  himself  to  slaughter  and  to  wade 
deep  in  blood;  so  in  his  native  Africa,  he  surren- 
ders himself  a  sacrifice  to  his  gods;  but  history 
will  be  searched  in  vain  to  prove  him  a  good  sol- 
dier. In  the  revolution  of  1776,  Lord  Dunmorc 
proclaimed  all  the  negroes  of  Virginia  free,  and 
invited  them  to  join  his  standard;  but  less  than 
three  hundred  accepted  the  invitation.  They 
preferred  slavery  to  military  service.  And  in  the 
battle  he  fought  near  Norfolk  against  the  Virginia 
militia,  we  are  informed  by  the  historian  (Botta) 
that  his  negro  troops  "  behaved  very  shabbily 
and  saved  themselves  by  flight."  In  St.  Do- 
mingo, the  English,  in  1793,  with  less  than  1,000 
men,  captured  several  fortified  places  from  the 
French  authorities,  who  had  over  20,000  troops, 
chiefly  negroes  and  mulattoes;  and  finally,  with 
les3  than  2,000  men,  captured  Port  au  Prince, 
the  capital  of  the  island.  The  French,  in  ex- 
tremity, ottered  freedom  to  the  slaves,  more  than 
400,000  in  number,  on  condition  of  military  ser- 
vice; but  only  6,000  accepted  the  boon.  Yet  the 
hands  of  these  slaves  were  still  bloody  with  the 
massacres  perpetrated  in  the  memorable  insur- 
rection of  1790.  Sir,  on  what  motive  is  he  to 
fight  our  battles?  He  is  after  all  a  human  being, 
and  acts  upon  motives.  Will  you  offer  him  his 
freedom?  The  enemy  will  offer  him  his  freedom, 
and  also  as  a  deserter,  immunity  from  military  ser- 
vice. Will  you  offer  him  the  privilege  of  return 
home  to  bis  family,  a  freeman,  after  the  war? 


That  you  dare  not  do,  remembering  it  was  the 
free  negroes  of  St.  Domingo,  who  had  been 
trained  to  arms,  that  excited  the  insurrection  of 
the  slaves.  And  the  enemy  would  meet  even  that 
offer  with  tho  promise  of  a  return  free  to  his 
Southern  home  and  the  right  of  property  in  it. 
The  amount  of  it  all  is,  that  in  despair  of  achiev- 
ing our  independence  with  oufown  right  arms, 
we  turn  for  succor  to  the  slave  and  implore  him 
to  establish  our  freedom  and  fix  slavery  upon 
himself,  or  at  least  upon  his  family  and  his  race, 
forever.  He,  at  least,  after  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  service,  is  to  be  banished  to  Liberia  or 
other  inhospitable  shore,  for  the  States  could 
never  permit  an  army  of  negroes  to  be  returned 
home,  either  free  or  slave. 

Sir,  if  the  employment  of  negro  troops  should 
be  attempted  successfully,  our  army  would  soon 
contain  only  slaves.  There  are  not  less  than 
400,000  adult  male  slaves  still  in  the  Confederacy, 
physically  capable  of  performing  military  ser- 
vice, and  far  less  than  this  number  of  good  troops 
would  ensure  our  independence.  If  they  will 
answer,  the  end  is  certain:  they  alone  will  be 
employed  during  the  war,  and  as  a  standing  army 
after  peace  Promised  their  freedom  for  a  certain 
term  of  service,  as  proposed  by  the  President, 
they  return  free  to  their  homes,  or  are  deported; 
a  new  purchase  or  draft  takes  place  to  fill  up  the 
vacancies  so  occasioned;  a  continual  drain  is  set 
up  on  the  slave  population  at  home  to  supply  the 
army,  the  able-bodied  are  taken;  the  women  and 
children,  and  the  feeble,  whose  productive  force 
is  diminished  one-third  by  the  absence  of  the  usual 
proportion  of  the  able,  are  left  an  expense  on  the 
owner's  hands;  and  ultimately  the  institution 
fails!  Sir,  this  war  i3  to  be  fought  solely  by 
white  soldiers  and  black  laborers,  or  white  labo- 
rers and  black  soldiers:  try  to  intermingle  the 
two  when  you  may,  the  attempt  will  fail;  the 
strands  will  seperate;  when  the  negro  enters  the 
army  the  white  soldier  will  leave  it.  He  becomes 
the  laborer — not  reposing  as  a  veteran  upon  his 
laurels — enjoying  the  repose  of  home  after  his 
long  services;  but  the  natural  laborer  of  the 
country  being  absent  in  the  military  service,  he 
supplies  the  place  left  void  in  the  field;  his  labor 
must  support  himself,  his  family  and  the  negro 
soldier.  Sir,  this  scheme,  if  attempted,  will  end 
in  rapid  emancipation  and  colonization — coloni- 
zation in  the  North  by  bringing  up  the  slaves  by 
regiments  and  brigades  to  the  opportunity  of  es- 
cape to  the  enemy;  emancipation  and  coloniza^ 
tion  abroad  to  those  who  render  service  to  us  for 
a  specified  period.  1  argue  on  the  presumption 
that  nothing  of  the  kind  will  be  attempted  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  States,  whether  as  to  em* 
ploying  them  on  the  promise  of  freedom,  or  as  to 


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